Thursday, January 9, 2014

With the first day of the 2014 Session of the General Assembly behind us, here is a look at some of the more important firearm related bills VSSA will be working over the next two months. Be sure to check this blog, the VSSA Twitter feed, and the VSSA Facebook Page for updates. Bills will continue to be introduced until Friday January 17th. The below list will grow and it is expected that a number of additional anti-rights bills will be introduced before next Friday.

One final note; if your membership is about to expire, please take a moment now to renew so we can continue to include you in our voice to the General Assembly. Because of you, we beat back all of the anti-rights bills last year and even passed a few good bills. We need you to help us again this year. And by renewing now, you will help save VSSA valuable resources that would be used on postage to send a renewal notice.

Pro-rights Bills:

HB
8 - Fees for concealed handgun permits. Decreases the local law-enforcement
background investigation fee from $35 to $10, which includes any amount
assessed by the FBI for providing criminal history record information. The
total amount assessed for processing an application for a permit is thereby
decreased from $50 to $25.

HB
21 - School boards; employee firearms training. Requires every school board in
the Commonwealth to designate at least one qualified person for every school in
the district who, upon application with the school board, may carry a concealed
handgun on school property. The bill requires all designated persons, including
certain school division employees, certain school volunteers who carry valid
concealed handgun permits, and certain retired law-enforcement officers, to be
certified and trained by the Virginia Center for School Safety or the National
Rifle Association in the storage, use, and handling of a concealed handgun. The
bill also outlines the training requirements for designated persons as designed
by the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

HB114
- Possession of firearm, etc., on school property; private or religious
schools. Eliminates the crimes of possession on the property of a private or
religious elementary, middle, or high school; a school bus owned or operated by
such school; or any property being used for functions or extracurricular
activities sponsored by such school of a stun weapon, knife, or other weapon
(currently a Class 1 misdemeanor) or a firearm (currently a Class 6 felony).
The bill does not affect the criminal penalties for the possession of such
weapons on public school property.

HB127
- Use of muzzleloading pistols. Allows persons to hunt big game with
muzzleloading pistols of a caliber of .45 or greater where and in those seasons
when the use of muzzlelooading rifles is permitted. The bill authorizes the
Board of Game and Inland Fisheries to adopt regulations that specify the types
of muzzleloading pistols and projectiles and propellants that can be used. The
bill contains technical amendments.

HB317
- Prohibition on weapons at airport; exception for concealed handgun. Provides
that a person who holds a valid concealed handgun permit may lawfully possess
or transport a concealed handgun into any air carrier airport terminal.

HB357
- Concealed handgun permit applicant; access to information. Allows a clerk of
a circuit court to disclose information contained in a concealed handgun permit
application to the applicant. Currently, the clerk may not disclose such
information to anyone except for a law-enforcement officer acting in the
performance of his official duties.

HB639
- Concealed handgun permits; residents of the Commonwealth. Allows any resident
of the Commonwealth who is otherwise eligible to obtain a concealed handgun
permit to carry a concealed handgun without a permit anywhere he may lawfully
carry a handgun within the Commonwealth (commonly referred to as Constitutional
Carry).

HB644
- Concealed handgun permits; lifetime permits. Provides for the issuance of
concealed handgun permits for Virginia residents that do not expire. Currently,
such permits must be renewed every five years.

HB646
- Replacement concealed handgun permits. Provides that no fees shall be charged
for the issuance of a replacement concealed handgun permit because the permit
holder has changed his address (currently subject to a maximum fee of $10) or
to replace a lost or destroyed permit (currently subject to a maximum fee of
$5).

HB705
- Out-of-state concealed handgun permits. Eliminates certain requirements for
an out-of-state concealed handgun permit to be recognized in Virginia and
provides that such a permit authorizes the holder of the permit to carry a
concealed handgun so long as the permit holder carries a valid
government-issued photo identification and presents that identification to any
law-enforcement officer upon request.

HB714
- Renewal of concealed handgun permit; no fees required. Provides that a person
who has previously been issued a concealed handgun permit does not have to pay
any fees to renew such permit.

HB736
- Lifetime concealed handgun permits; Department of State Police to issue;
penalty. Provides for the issuance of concealed handgun permits that do not
expire to Virginia residents upon payment of a one-time fee of $100, except
that the fee for a person currently holding an unexpired permit is $50.
Currently, the fee for issuing such permits is $50, and the permits must be
renewed every five years with an additional $50 fee charged each time. Such
lifetime permits will include a photograph of the permittee.

HB752
- Student expulsion; pneumatic guns. Removes pneumatic guns from the list of
weapons that require a school board to expel from school attendance for a
period of not less than one year any student whom such school board has
determined to have possessed such a weapon on school property or at a
school-sponsored activity.

SB368
- Regulation of transportation of a loaded rifle or shotgun. Provides that
lawful concealed carry permit holders shall not be subject to the provisions of
certain local ordinances that make it unlawful for any person to transport,
possess, or carry a loaded shotgun or loaded rifle in any vehicle on any public
street, road, or highway within such locality.

SB396
- Criminal background check for transfer of firearms; exemption for holders of
concealed handgun permits. Provides that a licensed firearms dealer does not
have to have a criminal background check performed to determine a person's
eligibility to purchase a firearm if the purchaser possesses a valid concealed handgun
permit and presents a photo-ID issued by an agency of the Commonwealth or the
Department of Defense.

Anti-Rights Bills:

HB48
- Possession of firearms following conviction of certain crimes; penalty.
Prohibits any person who is convicted of stalking, sexual battery, or assault
and battery of a family member that results in serious bodily injury from
possessing, transporting, or carrying a firearm or any other weapon for a
period of five years following his conviction. A violation would constitute a
Class 6 felony. The bill also provides for the forfeiture of any weapon
possessed, transported, or carried in violation of the prohibition. Finally,
the bill provides for a process by which a violator may petition the circuit
court for a reinstatement of his rights to possess, transport, or carry a
weapon. (the pupose of bills like this is to take us down the road to
California where some 40 different misdemeanor crimes can cause someone to lose
their 2nd Amendment rights).

HB61
- Firearms; purchase and sale of rifles or shotguns; penalties. Prohibits the
sale of any rifle, shotgun, or assault rifle by a federally licensed firearms
dealer to any out-of-state resident. Under current law, out-of-state residents
may purchase rifles, shotguns, or assault rifles from licensed dealers in the
Commonwealth provided certain background checks have been passed. Also, the
bill moves language regarding driver's license designations from Title 18.2,
Crimes and Offenses Generally, to Title 46.2, Motor Vehicles, with no
substantive change to the language. The bill contains technical amendments.

HB129
- Explosive material; method of ignition. Adds high impact velocity to the
methods of ignition contained in the definition of "explosive
material." It is a Class 5 felony to possess materials that may be used to
manufacture explosive materials or to manufacture, transport, distribute,
possess, or use explosive materials. (You may be asking why? Because this would
make a substance commonly used in exploding targets illegal.Exploding targets are used safely by many
shooters).

HB535
- Transfer of firearms; criminal history record information check; penalties.
Adds a definition of "firearms show vendor" and requires that a
criminal history record information check be performed on the prospective
transferee before the vendor may transfer firearms at a gun show. Under current
law, only licensed dealers must obtain such a check. The bill also requires
that the promoter of a firearms show provide vendors access to licensed dealers
who will conduct the criminal history record information check.

HB695
- Concealed handgun permit; firearms safety course; nonresident permits. Makes
various changes to the types of training courses permitted to satisfy the
requirement to display competence with a handgun to obtain a resident or
nonresident concealed handgun permit, including (i) requiring that a National
Rifle Association (NRA) or Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS)
course focus on the use and handling of a concealed handgun; (ii) requiring
that a law-enforcement course be a handgun training course rather than a
firearms safety course; and (iii) requiring that online NRA or DCJS training
courses be synchronous. The bill also requires that applicants for a
nonresident concealed handgun permit possess a valid concealed handgun permit
from their state of residence and provide a copy of that permit with their
application.

HR7
- Rules of the House of Delegates. Prohibits firearms on the floor of the House
of Delegates.

SB39
- Transfer of firearms; criminal history record information check; penalties.
Adds a definition of "firearms show vendor" and requires that a
criminal history record information check be performed on the prospective
transferee before the vendor may transfer firearms at a gun show. In order to
be a "firearms show vendor" the person must have paid or given other
thing of value to the promoter for the opportunity to sell guns at the gun
show. Under current law, only licensed dealers must obtain such a check. The
bill also requires that the promoter of a firearms show provide vendors access
to licensed dealers who will conduct the criminal history record information
check.

SB65
- Brendon's Law; celebratory gunfire; penalty. Provides that any person who
willfully discharges a firearm with no discernible or designated target within
or into the limits of any city or town or within two miles of any occupied
building and such conduct results in the death of another person is guilty of
an offense punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for not
less than five nor more than 40 years. The bill also provides that such conduct
that does not result in the death of another but does result in bodily injury
to another person is a Class 3 felony. Finally, the bill provides that such
conduct that does not result in the death or bodily injury to another is a
Class 6 felony. (This bill is a response to the tragedy that occurred on July
4th where some idiot apparently fired into the air and the bullet came down and
struck a young boy walking to a fireworks show.It is already against the law to discharge a firearm in an unsafe manner
such as occurred in Chesterfield that night).

SB287
- Transfer of firearms; penalty. Provides that any person who sells or
otherwise transfers a firearm to a person who is prohibited from possessing a
firearm by state or federal law is guilty of a Class 6 felony if the transferor
does not obtain a background check from a licensed firearms dealer.(It is already illegal, and a felony to
"willfully and intentionally" sell a firearm to a prohibited
person.The bill also creates a registry
of firearms similar to what Manchin, Schumer, Toomey did by basically cooercing
private sellers to go through an FFL for a background check in order to protect
themselves - and requires the licensed retailer to list the purchase in his
records similar to what is required of FFLs by ATF).

SB377
- Firearm transfers to dealers; penalty. Requires firearm dealers to go through
a process administered by the Department of State Police to determine whether a
firearm that is being transferred to the dealer by a person other than a
dealer, importer, or manufacturer can be lawfully transferred. The bill has an
effective date of January 1, 2015.